It’s been said many times that Final Fantasy XIV has one of the most rock-solid update schedules in the MMO space, but it turns out that a global pandemic does indeed disrupt that schedule. A new letter from producer and director Naoki Yoshida on the state of development in light of COVID-19 states that patch 5.3, planned for mid-June, will need to be delayed. It’s currently unknown if that delay will be as little as two weeks or closer to a month, with Yoshida stressing that the goal is to minimize said delays.
He points to a number of factors contributing to the delay – disruptions in art assets from outside studios, disruptions in voice recording work in Europe, delays in capacity across both QA staff and development staff due to movement restrictions – but stresses that this is the only way for the development team to stay safe and able to work correctly. Considering that he also states clearly that the development team is safe and healthy, most players will likely be happier about the health of the team than anything.
Yoshida also stresses that the game will remain online, maintained, and functional, even as he apologizes for the unavoidable delay. He encourages players to find happiness in their lives and to enjoy time spent in Eorzea during this unprecedented situation. That seems worth a little bit of slowdown in patch time.
